QBullet: Sharad Pawar’s Formula for United Oppn; BJP CM Meet Today

While Opposition parties aiming to take on the BJP unitedly in 2019 have maintained a conspicuous silence on their prime ministerial candidate, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar has come out with a formula to settle the issue. At a party meeting on Monday, 27 August, Pawar said the Opposition party bagging the maximum number of seats after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls could claim the top post.

“Let elections take place, remove these people (BJP) from power. We will sit together. Whichever party has got more seats can claim the prime minister’s post,” Pawar said. The 78-year-old also expressed happiness over Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s recent remarks that he was not driven by prime ministerial ambitions.

The newly appointed Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Satya Pal Malik is the first politician to be appointed to the position in over half a century. However, he says, “I may be a politician appointed as governor, but I’m not in Jammu and Kashmir for politicking.”

Speaking exclusively to The Hindu after meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Malik said his brief was to “reach out to the people of the State, to listen to them and after listening, do whatever is in their interests.”

“I will be inviting leaders of political parties to meet with me and if anyone feels uncomfortable to come to me, I will go to them. Protocol will not stop me,” Mr. Malik said.

3. BJP Chief Ministers’ Meeting to Be Held on Tuesday; PM Modi, Amit Shah to Be Present

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet chief ministers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states in New Delhi on Tuesday, 28 August to discuss plans about reaching out to beneficiaries of the government’s welfare schemes as part of efforts to ensure the party returns to power.

BJP president Amit Shah will also attend the day-long meetings along with deputy chief ministers of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-ruled states. The country’s political situation and general preparedness for the 2019 national election will also be discussed, three BJP functionaries said. The BJP rules 15 states and has deputy chief ministers in four states, where it shares power with allies.

Cash-strapped Jet Airways, which on Monday reported a whopping Rs 1,323 crore of net losses for the June quarter due to higher fuel cost, falling rupee and low fares, said it will monetise loyalty programme JetPrivilege and wet-lease some of its small aircraft to mobilise urgent working capital.

This is the second straight quarter of losses for the Naresh Goyal-run airline, which had last month publicly admitted to cash-flow issues. The airline had had booked net profit of Rs 53.50 crore in the year-ago period, while in the March quarter it had reported net losses of Rs 1,036 crore.

The Congress was not connected with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots but a few party leaders could have been involved at an individual level, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh told the state Assembly on Monday, 27 August.

The Punjab chief minister even named some Congress leaders, whose names he had heard at camps after the riots. Minutes before the Justice (retd) Ranjit Singh Commission's report on incidents of sacrilege in 2015 in the state was tabled in the Assembly, opposition SAD raised the issue of 1984 anti-Sikh riots during the Zero Hour.

Justice KM Joseph, recently elevated to the Supreme Court after a battle of nerves between the judiciary and the government, sprang a pleasant surprise on Monday by singing a Bollywood classic at a fundraiser for his flood-ravaged home state, Kerala.

Chief Justice Dipak Misra and a host of fellow Supreme Court judges and senior lawyers were present at the packed Krishna Menon Memorial Auditorium, where the event was organised by apex court journalists, mostly from the Malayalam media.

Parts of the Kashmir Valley erupted on Monday after some television channels reported that the Supreme Court was resuming hearing on petitions challenging Article 35A later in the day, instead of 31 August as scheduled. The police blamed the situation on “rumour-mongering by miscreants”.

Officials were quick to clarify it was actually a fresh petition by a right-wing activist, Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, before the court challenging Article 35A that was listed for admission around 2 pm on Monday, not the cluster of petitions clubbed into one that may come up on August 31. The court later dropped the hearing on the fresh plea after the petition sought an adjournment.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to clear the air on the quantum of assistance available for flood-ravaged Kerala, telling Governor P Sathasivam during a meeting that the amount announced so far was only an advance. The State could expect more money once it submits an additional memorandum, Mr Modi said.

According to a Raj Bhavan press release, Mr Modi told Mr Sathasivam, who called on him in New Delhi on Saturday, that the Central government had sanctioned ₹600 crore considering the likely delay in assessing the extent of damage suffered by the State.

This was in addition to the ₹562.45 crore sanctioned for the State Disaster Management Fund. The Centre had also made available medicines, water, food and foodgrains to meet urgent needs. All this was done waiving all normal procedures, the Prime Minister pointed out.

As the Army’s Court of Inquiry (CoI) indicted Major Leetul Gogoi on Monday, 27 August, Farooq Ahmad Dar, an artisan used as a ‘human shield’ by the officer welcomed the decision saying, “justice has been finally done.” Gogoi was indicted for allegedly ‘fraternising’ with a local woman in a Srinagar hotel and ‘being away from the place of duty while in operational area’. According to PTI sources, this will now lead to disciplinary action against Gogoi.

“I am thankful to the Almighty. The person who ruined my life has to face the wrath of God finally. God has his ways to do justice,” PTI quoted Dar as saying.

The incident, which took place on 9 April, 2017, left the 28-year-old traumatised and unable to resume his job as an embroidery artisan. He further said that the army should have treated his case also on compassionate grounds and listened to his version of the incident that sparked an outrage.